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Music : Before The Flood (2CD)
1 2
Rating: 
- A classic
This is a great album of live Dylan with The Band. It is wild, rough and rocking and contains classic versions of many of Dylan's most popular songs - some with Dylan singing solo and some very excitingly with The Band. There are also a good few tracks of The Band doing some of their own classics. There is no need to hesitate - this is a classic.
Rating:
- Very good, but not great
As a record of Dylan's 'Tour 74', this is a really good album, although the CD issue could have included a bit more music for the money.
There are some great versions here, but you have to like The Band's tough approach to the songs and the fact that Bob shouts a lot rather than sings, for example on Most Likely You'll Go Your Way, the set opener.
However, many songs benefit from this approach, particularly All Along the Watchtower, which gets a Hendrix inspired treatment. Predictably, the folkies get excited by the solo tracks, but I prefer the tracks with The Band.
The Band's own songs are enjoyable, but add little to the versions on Rock of Ages. There's one new song, Endless Highway, which is a nice surprise. The sound is solid and rich, but lacks some top-end and sounds pretty much the same as my old LPs.
The set makes an an interesting contrast to the Live 1966 'Albert Hall' concert, which featured the same musicians except Levon Helm.
Rating: - This is a Live album that is ALIVE
This album also features the Band with some of their Hits. The performance is truly electric and polished.
The sequence Lay Lady Lay, through to Ballad Of A Thin Man is fantastic with the typical The Band sound.
We then get a sequence of The Band Numbers which are well performed climaxing with my favourite 'Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and 'I shall be Released'. Performances are better than on 'The last Waltz'.
The album continues in the same vain finishing with some great performances at the end.
For the purist there are possible to many The Band tracks, but it the best live performance with some zhing.
Budokan is musically better produced, but lacks the buzz you want from a live performance. This has it.
Rating:
- Not a favorite of this Dylan fan
To put this review in the proper perspective, let me state up front that while I am a huge fan of Bob Dylan, I am in no way a fan of The Band; thus, I'm not really qualified to comment on the performance of The Band in this concert except to say that Up on Cripple Creek is something I can listen to and I Shall Be Released is memorable for the extremely raspy voice of the lead singer. Bob Dylan was seemingly in need of a big concert at this point in his career, having slipped a bit with his previous album, and from all I have read and heard this tour alongside The Band was a major success; certainly, the fans sound as if they enjoyed every minute of it. I have to admit that even Dylan doesn't really impress me here, though; I've heard him sing live in concert as well as on other live albums, and this performance just doesn't measure up to what I have heard elsewhere. Far too often he goes out of his way to punctuate the end of each line with a flourish that strikes me as unnatural and somewhat forced. Perhaps this is merely a result of his trying to breathe new life into some of his older material (his most recent, less successful songs are nowhere to be found on this track list), but it takes something away from my enjoyment of this live album. Of course, listening to Dylan perform live is always an interesting experience, as he almost never fails to sing the most familiar of his songs in a strikingly different way. Among the songs I do find worthy of praise here are Knockin' on Heaven's Door; It Ain't Me, Babe; and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. In addition to these tracks, The Band does lend force and energy to Dylan's delivery of the two closing tracks (and vintage Dylan staples) Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin' in the Wind. Take my appraisal with a grain of salt because many Dylan fans seem to love this 1974 concert performance, but do keep in mind the important fact that only a single CD's worth of Dylan material is featured on this 2-CD release.
Rating:
- stick to the studio recordings
Unlike other reviewers, I didn't engage with this at all. There is more to live performance than shouting words against a musical backdrop, any magic associated with a live performance didn't come across to my ears. As an aside the discs are not terribly well filled either - room for another half hour of music on each disc, should this be important to anyone. I'm happy for others to enjoy these discs, but they're not for me
- A classicThis is a great album of live Dylan with The Band. It is wild, rough and rocking and contains classic versions of many of Dylan's most popular songs - some with Dylan singing solo and some very excitingly with The Band. There are also a good few tracks of The Band doing some of their own classics. There is no need to hesitate - this is a classic.
Rating:
- Very good, but not greatAs a record of Dylan's 'Tour 74', this is a really good album, although the CD issue could have included a bit more music for the money.
There are some great versions here, but you have to like The Band's tough approach to the songs and the fact that Bob shouts a lot rather than sings, for example on Most Likely You'll Go Your Way, the set opener.
However, many songs benefit from this approach, particularly All Along the Watchtower, which gets a Hendrix inspired treatment. Predictably, the folkies get excited by the solo tracks, but I prefer the tracks with The Band.
The Band's own songs are enjoyable, but add little to the versions on Rock of Ages. There's one new song, Endless Highway, which is a nice surprise. The sound is solid and rich, but lacks some top-end and sounds pretty much the same as my old LPs.
The set makes an an interesting contrast to the Live 1966 'Albert Hall' concert, which featured the same musicians except Levon Helm.
Rating:
- This is a Live album that is ALIVEThis album also features the Band with some of their Hits. The performance is truly electric and polished.
The sequence Lay Lady Lay, through to Ballad Of A Thin Man is fantastic with the typical The Band sound.
We then get a sequence of The Band Numbers which are well performed climaxing with my favourite 'Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and 'I shall be Released'. Performances are better than on 'The last Waltz'.
The album continues in the same vain finishing with some great performances at the end.
For the purist there are possible to many The Band tracks, but it the best live performance with some zhing.
Budokan is musically better produced, but lacks the buzz you want from a live performance. This has it.
Rating:
- Not a favorite of this Dylan fanTo put this review in the proper perspective, let me state up front that while I am a huge fan of Bob Dylan, I am in no way a fan of The Band; thus, I'm not really qualified to comment on the performance of The Band in this concert except to say that Up on Cripple Creek is something I can listen to and I Shall Be Released is memorable for the extremely raspy voice of the lead singer. Bob Dylan was seemingly in need of a big concert at this point in his career, having slipped a bit with his previous album, and from all I have read and heard this tour alongside The Band was a major success; certainly, the fans sound as if they enjoyed every minute of it. I have to admit that even Dylan doesn't really impress me here, though; I've heard him sing live in concert as well as on other live albums, and this performance just doesn't measure up to what I have heard elsewhere. Far too often he goes out of his way to punctuate the end of each line with a flourish that strikes me as unnatural and somewhat forced. Perhaps this is merely a result of his trying to breathe new life into some of his older material (his most recent, less successful songs are nowhere to be found on this track list), but it takes something away from my enjoyment of this live album. Of course, listening to Dylan perform live is always an interesting experience, as he almost never fails to sing the most familiar of his songs in a strikingly different way. Among the songs I do find worthy of praise here are Knockin' on Heaven's Door; It Ain't Me, Babe; and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. In addition to these tracks, The Band does lend force and energy to Dylan's delivery of the two closing tracks (and vintage Dylan staples) Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin' in the Wind. Take my appraisal with a grain of salt because many Dylan fans seem to love this 1974 concert performance, but do keep in mind the important fact that only a single CD's worth of Dylan material is featured on this 2-CD release.
Rating:
- stick to the studio recordingsUnlike other reviewers, I didn't engage with this at all. There is more to live performance than shouting words against a musical backdrop, any magic associated with a live performance didn't come across to my ears. As an aside the discs are not terribly well filled either - room for another half hour of music on each disc, should this be important to anyone. I'm happy for others to enjoy these discs, but they're not for me